IPng is about IPng — the work done towards a new Internet Protocol — rather than about IPv6, the actual protocol chosen as a replacement for IPv4. Only some fifty pages at the end of the book are devoted to a general overview of IPv6, with the editors writing "refer to the RFCs for the up-to-date definitive details". The bulk of IPng consists of 150 pages from the submissions made to the IPng Directorate by outside groups. These include descriptions by the US navy, ATM groups, large corporations, cable TV providers, and many others of what they want and need from IPng, as well as more technical submissions addressing issues such as mobility, implementation, routing, transition, and security. Also included is a description of the process by which SIPP was selected to become IPv6 — the original framing of the problem, the selection of the technical criteria to be used, and the final comparison of the three proposals.

Not many people need to read IPng yet, but anyone involved with the Internet protocols should find plenty in it to interest them, even if they aren't planning for the future. Those most interested in the technical details will probably find Huitema's IPv6 more useful.

November 1995

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